Dead Silence: Dead Women Don’t Tell Tales…Or Do They?

Things have been super quiet around here lately and I think that much of it can be contributed to the fact that L.A. Noire really has eaten our brains. I have personally been playing the game in every free moment that I have (and lots of them are moments that I should be sleeping). I am a huge fan of the 1940s detective film so this game was destined to be right up my alley. It was the first game that I pre-ordered and would have gladly stood out in the rain for.

So the big question is was it worth it? The short answer is “yes” AND “no”. I am so torn about this game. Rockstar has done it yet again. They have created a game that has awesome gameplay (for those of you who haven’t played it yet it’s kind of a cross between GTA and Heavy Rain). It is more of the groundbreaking genre blending/making that makes me super excited to play a game. At the same time Rockstar is up to the same old sh*t in regards to women. In the last podcast I complained about the gratuitous use of the word “bitch” by one of the NPCs in the game and as I get more and more cases into the game the way that women (living and dead) are getting treated and talked about is getting old really friggin’ fast. How sexy are dead women, really? Clearly I missed the boat on necrophilia. I won’t spoil that game and talk too much about it here, but come on Rockstar, how many different ways can you degrade women? Look out for a special spoiler section on the game in an upcoming episode! You can call it a teaser or you can call it Samantha just taking a minute to vent…either way.

1 Response

I haven’t played the game for more than 45 minutes, but it’s been rolling around in my head for what seems like 45 hours. Yeah, it’s that kind of game. I love the 1940s detective narrative too, so maybe that’s why I’m initially willing to caulk up what you’re talking about to the genre. I mean sexist detective narratives are were we get lines like ‘She was the kind of dame that would make a priest kick in a stained-glass window.’ That shit is golden. But it’s also not where it ends (as you imply in this post). So yeah, when does Rockstar need to start thinking about reinventing aspects of a genre, which I’ve seen games like Hit Man do, rather than exploiting them for the worst possible aspects. Oh and for the record, no. Dead women are decidedly not sexy.